Break Down
by cjhar
Summary: Sara storms out in the middle of a shift. Nick's there to comfort her. My first ever fanfic so please be nice! Please R&R DONE!
1. Chapter 1

Nick stuck his head out of the wall to watch Sara stalk down the hall. She kicked open the locker room door furiously. He had never seen Sara this pissed off.

"Warrick, Did you just see Sara?"Nick asked the CSI next to him.

"Yeah, I've never seen Sara that upset. She usually stays at the lab all day. For her to be going to the locker room during the day means something big happened. I wonder what Grissom did today?", Warrick answered.

"Hey, Do you mind working alone for a little bit?" He ran out without waiting for Warrick to answer.

He opened the locker room door cautiously, he saw Sara sitting on the bench in locker room. He coughed quietly to get her attention. She didn't look up.

"I don't care who you are. Get out of here." Sara said quietly.

Nick walked over. "No, Sara I'm worried about you. You haven't been happy in forever. When was the last time you really smiled? I'm not leaving until you tell me what's eating you. Come on, we are friends."

"Friends? We're friends? Oh really, sorry I just thought that friends stood up for their friends or at least came to see if they were alright. Not sit through the whole thing, with not one call not one email nothing. The only one who came was Grissom. Yeah, that's right, the supervisor with zero people skills was the only one who came to see me, the only one to stand up to Ecklie was he threatened to fire me." , she retorted angrily. " It's bad enough that the shift doesn't like me but, to pretend you like me just to get something out of me is just wrong. Bye Nick."

She stood up and Nick noticed that her eyes were red. She blew past him but, he caught her wrist as she tried to go out the door. She pulled against it but, he held tight.

"Sara, I'm sorry I didn't come to see you. I really am. But, I do like you. I'd like to be your friend. Can you let me try?"

" I'll see.", she said coldly wrenching her arm from his grasp.

" Call me if you need anything.", he called trying to get her trust as she strode down the hallway.

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My first time ever doing this so please read and review. Constructive critism preferred over flames. Thanks!

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	2. Chapter 2

I just wanted to thank every one for being so nice on the reviews. It really really helped boost some confidence. Sorry about it being so short. Some major writer's block issues.  
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Nick walked down the hallway back to the lab room thinking about what Sara had said. Was he really that terrible of a friend? Looking back on his actions he could see how Sara could say that no one on the shift really liked her. No one was particularly friendly to her. He hated himself for letting this get so far. He had only distanced himself from her so he didn't seem that he was so incredibly attracted to her. It wouldn't fair well with Grissom who even though would never seriously date her, would never let Nick date her. Still deep in thought, he strode right into Grissom.

"Nick? Are you okay? I've noticed every one has been a little upset since Jim's health scare?", he said a little distracted.

I'm sure that Sara's unhappiness had nothing to do with the fact that you used her so terribly for the week afterwards. Nick thought angrily.

"Nope._ I'm_ fine." he said shortly. Aiming for the low blow, he asked, " Have you seen Sara lately? She seemed really upset."

He was gratified to see Grissom's hands tighten on the folder he was holding. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.

"Uh..Not lately. I'll..uh..go check on her later. I have to go see Greg.",He mumbled.

"Don't bother. She's already left, crying. Do you know what made her so upset? Apparently, she thinks no one likes her.",Nick said with calculated innocence.

"Well, Sara's always been the emotional one. I'm sure she'll be fine. I'll give her a call later. Oh Nick, I need you to go over all the eyewitness reports and check for any repeated facts. Give the information to me later.", Grissom reasoned as he walked quickly away from Nick and this conversation.  
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Sorry if the time line's is a little screwed up. Anyway, please review and send me advice on what to do next. It'd be very appreciated! Sorry, Bones comes on soon so I have got to go! LoL


	3. Chapter 3

I forgot to put this on the earlier chapters. I don't own anything on CSI but, you know if anyone feels like giving me a cool birthday gift.  
Thanks for the feed back guys. Helped a lot knowing that someone was reading my story! Lol.  
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Nick walked into the break room an hour later still mulling over Sara and Grissom. He hated to think of Sara thinking he didn't care about her. When he sat and started to drink his coffee, Greg ran into the room screaming.

" Sara left us a note! She left earlier. Sara left early.", Greg was still stuttering when Nick snatched the note from Greg's hand almost ripping it in two. Before he could read it, his cell phone rang. He groaned before answering the phone.

" Stokes," he said irritated

'Nick?", Sara asked softly.

"Hey, Sara.", Instantly everyone in the room went silent and stared at Nick.

" I was just wondering if you could maybe bring me my keys I left my house key in my locker. I found my spare car key where I hid it but, I don't have a spare house key. You're the only one I want to see right now so don't let anyone else come okay. I'll be on the doorstep."

Grissom was telling Nick to let him have the phone he needed to talk to Sara, but Nick held it away from him.

"Okay, yeah. Um Grissom wants to talk to you." Nick said hesitantly.

"See you in twenty minutes. Bye", Sara said as she hung up.

He stared at the phone for a minute. A little unsure over what had just happened but, he would do anything if it meant getting Sara's trust and friendship back. Nick looked at the team and shrugged. Grissom looked upset and a little pissed that he wasn't going to be able to talk to her. Ever since the talk with Nick in the hall, Grissom had been trying to call her. Every time she had ignored his calls. He was getting a little desperate to talk to her. After all, it was mostly his fault she was so upset.

"Well, I'm going to go give Sara her key back. Is it okay if I don't come back? I was going to try and calm her down. That okay?"

Before Grissom could respond, Nick was out the door and heading to the locker room.

It took him 15 minutes to get to Sara's house. He bounded up the stairs to find Sara not on the doorstep. He opened her front door using the her keys quietly. He found Sara sitting on her couch looking a lot stronger than she did earlier. He cleared his throat trying to get her attention. It didn't work. She was still staring at the wall. He walked over to her.

"Sara, Sara!", he said louder than normal.

She looked up startled. The expressions on her changed from confusion, to what Nick thought to be almost happy.

"Hey, here are your keys.", he said extending the keys toward her. "Hey, you want to some dinner. I'm a pretty good cook." He attempted to break the mood, " I've tasted your cooking and I would feel pretty bad if you had to eat charcoal today." He smiled his signature Nick smile.

Sara smiled a little and agreed to let him. She let him cook while she set the table and took a shower. When she came out, she looked much better, less sad and more confident.

"I'm done. Sara, you need to go to the store more often. You have almost no food left in the refrigerator. I really had to scramble to make this feast.", Nick joked as he set down spaghetti and garlic beard.

"Nick, it's pasta and Ragu. Even I can do that." Sara retorted.

"Yes but, Can you make the famous Stokes garlic bread?", Nick asked.

Sara laughed and went to try a piece. "Fine. I'll give you that you make a mean piece of garlic beard."

"Come on try the rest of it. We'll talk later."

The rest of the meal was silent as they polished the rest of the food. When they were finally done, Sara cleaned as Nick talked about useless things.

"So Nick, want to stay and watch a movie? I could make us some popcorn. That's my speciality.", Sara asked. Her laughter covering her nervousness.

"Sure, What movie do you want to watch? No chick flicks. I refuse to watch them."

" How about Top Gun? I haven't seen it in forever. It's got fighter jets, Nick."

They sat on the couch and before Sara could get up to make popcorn, they had fallen asleep.

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Review PLEASE! How was this chapter? Updates come much faster when there are more reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

1I want to take this time and thank everyone who reviewed. Sorry it took a ridiculously long amount of time for me to update. Tests and papers and speeches were due. It was a tough week, but enough of that now. For those of you who reviewed all three chapters, I'm pretty much in love with you. So keep up the good reviewing work.

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Sara woke up with a strain in her back from sleeping on the couch. She didn't understand what woke her up until she heard the doorbell ring again. With reluctance she slid from under Nick's arm and softly padded to the door. She opened it up without looking which she soon regretted. Greg popped in looking around and acting way to peppy for this soon after Sara had woken up. He moved into the living room. Catching sight of Nick asleep on the couch, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Sara ! Nick is asleep on your couch !", Greg shouted.

"Really Greg, I didn't realize that." Sara exclaimed sarcastically, " Shut up, I'm going to make coffee. Don't annoy Nick."

"Wow, someone is snippy without their coffee in the morning, Me I already had two cups."

" Yeah, I can see that Greg.", Nick cut in from the couch.

" Nick, glad to see you're awake. Sorry I made you sleep on the couch.", Sara said, trying to save herself from Greg's jokes about them sleeping together.

" Sara,- " Greg was cut off by the doorbell.

Groaning, Sara walked over to the door. She looked through the peephole this time and was shocked to see Grissom and Warrick standing on her doorstep. All too aware of her clothing, Sara opened the door with reluctance.

" Well, this is quite the party. All the guys from the night shift in my apartment at once. If you excuse me, I've got to go change. Nick, Could you keep an eye on them?" Sara left the room almost at a sprint.

All the men stood around stiffly for about five minutes until Greg broke the silence. " Nick, why were you here?"

"Sara invited me. I made her dinner. I didn't want to leave her alone. She's been hurt enough lately.", Nick explained while glaring at Grissom." What are you doing here? I know Sara didn't invite all of you at once."

" I was worried about her. She was there for me. I felt bad about not doing the same.", Warrick offered up.

" I wanted to see her. I haven't hung out with her and when she said in the note that she didn't feel well. I wanted to cheer her up or make her breakfast or something." Greg explained.

They waited a few minutes before all staring at Grissom who hadn't said anything yet. He stayed silent. He stared at her couch where Nick still sat. He was jealous beyond belief. He knew he that he had no right. After all he was the one that broke it off with Sara. He tried to reason with himself, that it was only because she would be the one who got hurt if their relationship became public news."Well guys, I'm going to go. I'm confident that Sara is in good hands.", Warrick said.

"Here, I'll walk you out."Nick replied. Waiting until they were out of earshot, he started talking again. " I think I might ask Sara out for real now. I'm sick of waiting and watching her get hurt by Grissom. I'm stepping up to the plate."

"Well good luck to you. Ordinarily, I'd spend this time making jokes about you sleeping on the couch but, I'll be a nice guy this once.", Warrick said as he stepped out the door.

Greg left soon after Warrick left, leaving Grissom and Nick together.

Grissom suddenly spun around. " Nick, I still love her. So if you hurt her, I will make your life miserable."

"Oh like you haven't done enough for her.", Nick shot back.

" I know that I haven't always done what's best that for her. But, I do care about her.", Grissom retorted.

Sara unbeknownst to them had walked into the room. She stood there frozen as the men continued to fight about her. She didn't know what to do or how to interrupt but, Grissom caught sight of her.

"Uh.. Sara. I'm going to go.". Grissom ran out the door, leaving Nick to explain what happens.

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As always, Read and Review please please please. So I accidently took a really long time to update. Next time if I got 5 new reviews then I'll update almost immediatly.


	5. End

Hey, Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry it took so long to update, and how short it is. I hurt my wrist playing soccer.(I'm the goalie) Anyway all those who reviewed all chapters, I love you alot!.

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"Nick?", Sara asked calmly.

"Sara, You can't interrupt me okay, I need to get this out of my system. Okay?". Once Sara nodded, he began again. " I love you. I've always loved you. I tried to stay away from you to stop making a fool of myself around you because I love you, not because I don't like you. I was mad at Grissom because he always hurts you. He has never made you happy. I don't like seeing you. We were fighting because I told him to quit hurting you. I wanted to ask you out if you wondering what I was talking about with Warrick. So will you go out with me?"

" No! I'm not going out on a pity date with you.". Sara replied angrily.

" Sara. It's not a pity date, It's not a pity date.", Nick pleaded with her. " Please, go on one date. It won't hurt to go on one date with me."

"Swear it's not a pity date. " Sara asked suspiciously.

Nick almost laughed with relief. " Yes, I swear."

"Fine, I'll go on a date.", Sara said wearily, sick of fighting it.

Nick grabbed her into a hug and swung her around. From the way he was acting, It was like she agreed to marry him.

"I'll pick you up at 7.", he said.

"Okay, I'll be ready."

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Should I make a sequel about the date? Would you guys read it? Thanks alot for all the support. It meant alot to me.

cjhar


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